Weather service: Winds, but no tornado in Columbia County

As residents clear wreckage, remainder of week forecast to be calm and sunny

By Bob Gardinier

Updated
1:05 pm EDT, Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Crews remove up downed branches, wires and a power pole on The Concourse near Kinderhook Lake after storm hit Niverville on Sunday. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Crews remove up downed branches, wires and a power pole on The Concourse near Kinderhook Lake after storm hit Niverville on Sunday. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

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Crews remove up downed branches, wires and a power pole on The Concourse near Kinderhook Lake after storm hit Niverville on Sunday. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Crews remove up downed branches, wires and a power pole on The Concourse near Kinderhook Lake after storm hit Niverville on Sunday. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Weather service: Winds, but no tornado in Columbia County

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Kinderhook

Residents near Kinderhook Lake cleaned up Monday after high winds knocked down trees, which hit buildings and power lines on Sunday.

Inspectors from the National Weather Service were in northern Columbia County on Monday and found that straight-line winds, not a tornado, which causes circular damage, was responsible for the destruction.

Forecasters said residents in the Niverville area had reported seeing a funnel cloud, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said.

Landra Haber stood in the sweltering sun at her home on Kinderhook Lake's south shore, glad that her home was not hit by the many toppled trees. Her chicken coop was not as lucky.

"We only use it for storage now and it is under there somewhere," Haber said, pointing to a sliver of rustic red clapboard poking out of a pile of downed trees.

Her backyard screen shelter was blown apart.

"There was a glass top on the table in there and it was not even cracked," Haber said.

As the storm hit the area early Sunday evening, fear struck her family, who watched the storm coverage on the news.

"We were prepared to go to the basement and then all the trees started cracking," Haber said. "I think it was a microburst because if you look over there, there is no damage — just in this spot."

The downburst and wind damage occurred in an eight-mile-long and 1½-mile-wide line from South Schodack, Rensselaer County, to Chatham, Columbia County, the weather service confirmed. The estimated maximum wind speed was 85 to 90 mph.

There were some reports of hail up to 2 inches in diameter, Meccariello said.

Some power lines were knocked down, but National Grid reported all power was restored by Monday.

Rain is in the forecast for Tuesday and the humidity will lessen, Meccariello said. The rest of the week looks to be calm and sunny.